After a pause, Xu's father said, "A forced melon will never be sweet."

Xu Jingzhi: "..." How would you know if it's sweet if you don't twist it? If they had a childhood betrothal, they might already be married for several years by now.

Song Leilei: "......" Thank goodness we didn't have an arranged marriage; my parents were really wise.

In this way, the two easily obtained fifty million. Mr. Xu happily took out the ingredients and prepared to cook a sumptuous lunch for the children.

Mr. Xu stared at the ingredients for a while before calling the maid: "Bring the food over in a bit, enough for three people."

Mr. Xu didn't like having too many people in the family, so the maids had been living in the house across the street for years. The Xu family owned quite a few properties, and although not as many as in their most prosperous period, their current assets still ranked among the top in the city, albeit somewhat low.

The Xu family's business is not as big as it used to be, but they are still a respectable family.

The maid usually appears and disappears rather mysteriously, and tries to avoid meeting people in the Xu residence. Occasionally, Song Leilei will bump into her once or twice, but she will only be mistaken for a guest from the Xu family.

......

Sitting in Xu Jingzhi's room, Song Leilei was already lost in thought.

Song Leilei felt like she was dreaming; both things were fantastical.

First, she was suddenly getting married, and the groom was Xu Jingzhi.

Secondly, the Xu family actually managed to come up with 50 million!

Either of these two things, taken individually, would be enough to shock her for a long time!

"I'll transfer the money to you right now." After transferring the money to her account, Xu Jingzhi placed his phone on the computer desk. "Don't think about it anymore. This is the best solution right now. You could go on a hundred or eighty blind dates and not one of them would meet your requirements. So, I'll just have to compromise and marry you."

"It's not like I can't get married, I don't need you to marry me."

"Don't be ungrateful. In the short term, who do you want to marry? Who do you want to marry to resolve the breach of contract penalty issue? I'm helping you, even though I've already staked my whole life on this."

"I'll find a way to pay you back." Song Leilei looked at him innocently, thinking about the amount. "But it won't be so quick. How can your family come up with so much money?"

When asked about this, Xu Jingzhi was suppressing a laugh, but said seriously, "As soon as I was born, my dad started saving money like crazy for my future marriage."

"My parents have also saved some money for me, only a little over 100,000 yuan, but your family has 50 million yuan in savings, this..."

Song Leilei still found it unbelievable; the Xu family didn't seem like a simple family.

She frowned and shook her head. "Did Uncle go to work in the coal mines before?"

Xu Jingzhi was so flustered by her that he covered his mouth with his hand and pretended to cough, hiding the lower half of his face that was trying to suppress his laughter.

He discussed this reason with his friends late last night.

"Yes, you guessed it right." Xu Jingzhi sighed heavily. "So now I'm giving you the money to pay the penalty for breach of contract, and I won't be able to get a wife. There's nothing I can do but make do from now on."

Song Leilei: "......"

“My dad will be very sad if we don’t get married,” Xu Jingzhi continued to try to trap Song Leilei.

You see, Song Leilei couldn't bear to see Uncle Xu sad, and she treated him like her own father.

The closer you are to someone, the more accurately you can grasp their weaknesses.

Xu Jingzhi knew that Song Leilei was kind-hearted, couldn't bear to see any suffering in the world, and was also very sensitive.

If he confessed directly, Song Leilei wouldn't believe him. But this little trick achieved his goal immediately. Feelings could be nurtured later; he knew his feelings for Leilei were genuine.

Song Leilei lowered her eyes and said, "You're right. How about I return the money to you, and I'll think of another way to get the money back?"

"What method? Sell a kidney? Or sell your heart?" Xu Jingzhi only said things that were frightening.

Song Leilei clutched her chest, her back tingling and her shoulders stiff with fear. "There are many ways in the world, it's not just selling body organs."

"Then tell me, what other way is there? You're in dire straits. Now there's a way to save you from this predicament, and I'm offering it to you with both hands."

Xu Jingzhi exaggeratedly cupped the air in his hands and moved it in front of her.

He raised his eyebrows. "I think you should use the current method and quickly terminate the contract to regain the freedom to choose your own path in life."

The more Song Leilei listened, the more she felt that it made a lot of sense.

"Okay." Song Leilei nodded vigorously, finally successfully brainwashed.

She messaged Gao Wei, proposing to formally terminate the contract.

She didn't get a reply quickly, but her eyes and mind were on the screen.

At this moment, Xu Jingzhi sat down next to her, tilted his head and glanced at her phone screen, "Then from now on, wherever you go, I'll come pick you up whenever I have time."

"oh."

"Let's go on a date and see a movie today."

"Huh?" Song Leilei suddenly snapped out of her daze, turned to look at him, her big eyes filled with confusion. "You mean a date?"

The two of them often go shopping and watch movies together, but always as friends.

This is the first time such a sensitive word as "dating" has appeared.

"We're no longer friends. Haven't you thought that through?"

Xu Jingzhi put his arm around her shoulder and explained to her carefully, "Look, our status has changed. In order to adapt to the stage of marriage in the future, we naturally need to go on dates as a couple and cultivate our feelings more."

Song Leilei bit her lip, looking completely bewildered.

She thought to herself: What's going on? Childhood friends developing feelings and becoming lovers? This, how is this possible?

"No!" she immediately objected.

"If my dad knew what you're doing, he'd be really heartbroken." Xu Jingzhi stared at the ceiling and sighed heavily. "After all, he's my dad, not yours, so of course you wouldn't feel sorry for him. I really don't know if he could bear it if he knew the truth. That money, he was so concerned about that money..."

He covered his head and pretended to cry, saying, "I've suffered so much!"

His body trembled as he cried, and his face was completely obscured.

Song Leilei felt she had gone too far. After all, Xu Jingzhi was trying his best to help her, even offering to use the money she had saved for her wedding. She shouldn't have refused him.

He could have married the woman he loved if he hadn't received the money.

She felt extremely guilty.

"Okay, alright." Song Leilei touched his head with her finger. "Don't cry. I know you're doing this for my own good and want to help me. Let's both try our best to see if this relationship can change."

Where Song Leilei couldn't see, Xu Jingzhi, with his head down, revealed a triumphant smile.

Last night, his friends said he was immoral.

But when it comes to dealing with Song Leilei, you need to be morally upright; otherwise, you simply can't catch up.

Because they're childhood friends, they're directly restricted and have no room for expansion. As long as they're childhood friends, given Song Leilei's closed-mindedness, she'll never see him as a man.

Therefore, he had to take the lead and break the fixed mindset in Song Leilei's mind about childhood friendship.